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HLP promotion via articles Feb 2019

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Iain Baker:
Hi everyone.

Whilst I am waiting for the high res artwork for the YouTube banner and the updated version of the 2014 MVP intro (hint hint  ;7) I have been quietly promoting FreeSpace and HLP by indirect means. One of the ways I have been doing this is by mentioning FreeSpace SCP and HLP in some of the articles I am writing / due to write.

One of these articles is tentatively named: ‘The Implausibility of Popular Sci-Fi Aliens’. In essence it is a 4000 word hit-piece on how scientifically implausible most mainstream sci-fi alien races are, due to being far too human. For example, the Vulcans from Star Trek, or the Centauri from Babylon 5. (I fully expect to receive hate main from trekkies 😉

 The article then compares these to some of the more interesting and scientifically plausible aliens in less mainstream sci-fi. Two examples of these come from FreeSpace.

Firstly the ‘Squeaker’ – the Vasudan to human translation device. I cited this since it actually translates speech, instead of simply making all the aliens sound like they are speaking English, which is what Star Trek’s Universal Translator appears to do.

The second example are the Shivans, and their Blue Planet depiction in particular. I cited them as they are utterly unlike humans, but also well described and internally consistent in their ‘Capital A’ alienness.

I have reached out to several publications, such as BBC Science Focus and sci-fi publications such as Tor.com, Clarkesworld and Analog Science Fiction and Fact (sister publication to Asimov’s Science Fiction.) With luck one of them will publish it, and thus introduce FreeSpace and HLP to a wider audience. Most of the sites state it takes them about three months to reply, so for now it’s the waiting game. I’ll keep you all posted.

If anyone has any suggestions about other publications / websites etc. that are worth approaching, please let me know.
I have two more articles up my sleeve which may also introduce FreeSpace and HLP to a wider audience. I’ll keep you posted on those too.

Link below is to the post about the images and video I need.

https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=95426.0

Nightmare:
That sounds pretty cool! Good idea you had there. :D

Black Wolf:
The whole "Sci-Fi Aliens are Unrealistic!" trope has been around for ages. It's not wrong, but there's a pretty compelling counterargument that you can draw from evolutionary biology. The short version is that a) there are certain things that have evolved repeatedly on Earth and show clear selective advantage and b) there are certain environments where general intelligence and the ability to manipulate tools in complex ways has less selective value than other things, like an aerodynamic or hydrodynamic shape. As a result, tool using intelligent Aliens that make it into a full on technological society like ours are likely to have a number of things in common (stereoscopic front facing eyes, complex manipulators not involved in locomotion etc.) and likely have come down a relatively limited number of evolutionary niches (probably not exclusively aquatic, probably can't fly, likely not exclusively herbivorous etc.). I'm not saying the first Aliens  we meet are going to look exactly like us but with slightly different ears, but to my mind, a Vasudan is vastly more realistic than a Shivan.

I should get around to writing this all down some day. :P

HLD_Prophecy:
^What BlackWolf said.  ;)

But yeah, thanks for going to the work of writing that! I'd only recommend looking into some other 'plausible' alien races as well such that the article isn't too much an obvious HLP plug.  :lol:

Cyborg17:
Fantastic idea! I reall hope this gets published!!

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